Andre Bissonnette, Composer/Sound FX

Beginning these things is always strange right? You have to say who you are and what you’re about and what you do in a concise and representative way without sounding like you’re a blowhard bragging too much, while also trying to sound interesting enough where the people reading this will continue to do so. The whole thing is just awkward.

… Let me start that again.

Hi, I’m André. As of writing this, I’m 26, finished college with a degree in music, I compose, arrange, and edit music and audio for a living, and one of the most important ways I interpret and contextualize life is through video games. What do I mean by that? Well, you know how in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, how thematically, visually, and narratively, the story has video game references everywhere all the time? That, in a way, is how I view my life. All of my conflicts and interpersonal relationships are processed metaphorically through games. I guess everyone does this using the media they consume. Readers, movie goers, and TV watchers reference and relate to their medium “in the real world” all the time.

Music has been an essential part of my life. I would be a vastly different person without it, and probably someone I would not recognize nor understand as well. I started learning piano when I was 6, violin when I was 10, and upright bass when I was 15. I continued these instruments into college, and I still practice, perform, and learn on my own to this day. I wrote my first symphony when I was 14 and had my first performance by members of the Seattle Symphony when I was 16. This continued every year until I was in college. I’m quite lucky in that I had the opportunity to study under Sam Jones, who was at that time, the Resident Composer for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. I know that without his guidance in my musical opportunities, I would’ve been just some talented burn out.

My Life is actually quite simple. I’m luckier than most. When it comes to a career, I only have one option. I have the privilege of saying “this is who I am” when it comes to my work and my hobby. A lot of people don’t even have the one option. Some have too many, and they must sacrifice or make concessions in one aspect. I’ve had to do neither. For me, choosing isn’t a choice, which is ironically the best choice for me.

I am very fortunate to be working for Games Omniverse. They are taking a risk having me aboard when I have 0 titles under my belt. I’m quite green when it comes to the games industry. Composing music, working on audio, and being involved with making video games has been what I have been striving for for as long as I have thought games were a unique medium for narrative. So basically since I first played a game, although now I know that more consciously than when I did when I was 8. This will be the first title I have worked on professionally and officially. How cool is that? The most involved I have been when it comes to games previously is just consuming them, which I have spent pretty much all of my free time doing since I can remember. As we all know, games have a unique way of delivering on a narrative which is what appeals to me more than any other story medium. I refer you to Dara O’Briain in case you’re unaware of what I’m talking about:

On a side note, if I was able to trade in all of these experiences and opportunities for a cool superpower, like the bending powers of an avatar, or a green lantern’s ring, or if I could summon a Robin Williams Genie, I totally would.

Oh, I should mention, my favorite video game character is Commander Shepard. Some games I really like are The Witcher 2, Minecraft, Dragon Age, Braid, and Bastion. The most memorable game from my childhood was Full Throttle. My starter Pokemon is Charmander. I swear a ton and must’ve edited out like 30 variants of f-bombs during this whole bio writing ordeal. And my favorite composer is probably Beethoven or Shostakovich, but that always changes.